God is Love

"Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment - to love one another - is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it." (1 John 2:7)

This is the final God Anthology. In the end love is the attribute that requires the most tangible response from us. His holiness, faithfulness, wrath and mercy will send us to our knees in worship but his love sends us to our neighbor.

Think about it:

Jesus loved the Father enough to follow his voice to the cross. We have a very self-focused theology that sounds something like, "if I were the only one alive Jesus would still have died just for me." Yes, Jesus loves us and the Bible tells us so... goes the old song. We must remember that Jesus obeyed the Father. He went to the cross to please the Father. He recognized and responded to the Father's voice among all the other voices and influences that would speak to him during his life.

In the gospel of John, Jesus is always saying things like, "my message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me... I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me... I always do the things that are pleasing to Him..." He is constantly exalting the Father and constantly laying down his rights. "For I know where I came from and where I am going..." Jesus glorifies the Spirit by telling the early church that it is better that he leave them so the spirit will come. The Holy Spirit teaches us to fall in love with Jesus. Jesus allows us to know the Father. The Father glorifies the son. Each member of the trinity focuses wholly on honoring the other. That is the model we are to take to our neighbor.

Romans 12:10 says, "Let us outdo one another in showing honor." What would the world look like we outdid one another in showing honor? What if we acted like the trinity? We are called to be full-fledged participants.

God is Mercy

When I started working at NCC I was the administrative assistant. Part of my job was to handle bulk orders for Pastor Mark's books. Individuals, small groups, and coaches would request cases to give copies away as gifts or use them for book studies. Entire churches even requested them for sermon series. About a month into the job I received an order that I read as, "22 cases." I sent the books and took care of the paperwork. Done and done... until I received an email from the curiously grateful recipient thanking me for the extra books she received.

Scrambling back to the original email I wanted to cry: 22 BOOKS. Books, NOT cases. The math scrolled through my mind like a film strip. 24 Books per case times 22 cases is 528 books, which is exactly... 506 too many. Not the best way to begin a new job that I really wanted to stick around for. I should just quit now. I slloooowwwwly moseyed my way up to Pastor Mark's office to admit my mistake, ready to pay for the shipping and all the rest. At this point I need to change gears because you should know that Pastor Mark's office has a certain feel to it. It's like you've stepped into peace when you walk in. So not only am I breaking the news but I also felt like I was violating his serenity as well.

I sadly shared the story in a nervous and therefore inarticulate way. He just gave me a grin and goes, "that's okay."

That's all? It is not okay. This is really really bad. Maybe I didn't properly clarify: I sent CASES NOT BOOKS. But again he just says, "nah, it's okay." So there it was: the gospel preached to me not with words but with grace. And I even got to keep my whole paycheck. I expected reprimand and I got blessed.

Besides the fact I was on the receiving end of forgiveness, what made this story a picture of the gospel was that it had a price tag. It was at somebody's expense. It cost him something.

In 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 Paul talks about giving up his rights for the good of others.

And isn't that what Christ did? He gave up his rights, saw equality with God not as something to be grasped, humbled himself by becoming a man, lived a sinless life to be our spotless lamb and died the death of a criminal. It is all so unfair. It truly is the great reversal; a huge injustice. We rightfully celebrate the resurrections so let us never overlook the sheer inequality of the cross. Paul is simply mimicking what Christ has already done: given himself up for his neighbor.

The question is simple: Do our lives preach the gospel to one another? Does mercy - real, costly mercy - inundate the interactions we have?

Do we give up our rights to serve other people, especially if it is going to cost us something or be inconvenient? Do we know Christ and what he has done well enough to submit our lives to Him so we are free to genuinely love and outdo one another in showing honor?

Let's decide individually to be a community that builds one another up.

Shallow Small Groups

Right now Team D (The Discipleship Team) at NCC is in the process of making some nifty new improvements to Leadership 101 online training. It's the first small group training new leaders at NCC receive. If they don't get any other instruction before launching their group, Leadership 101 is what they need to know. It's my job to help think through content and creativity for those videos. My whole goal is to make meaningful and helpful training that is... really fun. Really creative. Really enjoyable. This is today's inspiration from www.rightnow.org:

Getting Older Doesn't Mean You Have To Grow Up

I love my friends. Last night I was reminded of yet another reason why they are crazy fun. Case in point:

It is the evening before my birthday. Girl time at the pool - check. DC3 - check. In bed early - double check... for about an hour. I hear a little knocking at my door. Bernita Bontrager whispers, "Maegan, are you in there?" She scuttles into my room in a cape insisting that I check my phone because I may have "an [as in singular] important text message." I had 39. All with this link....




Clue #1 - Go to the fabulous red-headed, air traffic control association's house. Answer = Marion Hixon. I would discover that each house I would go to had a video message with a birthday challenge and my next clue. The first one was Jeff all the way from Africa singing me happy birthday African style.

Clue #2 - You love karaoke. Go to the place where it happens all too regularly!! This is without question the Zempel house, which is home to everything karaoke. Ryan Zempel answers the door, "happy 13th birthday!" That guy... just last week I was mistaken for his child.

Will Johnston, Josh Stockstill, and Ryan sang Frank Sinatra's You Make Me Feel So Young. Ryan may want to reconsider if that message is really true. :)

Clue #3 - Ruth Erickson (of my very favorite Seattle friends!) told me via video about a Yanni concert at the Acropolis. That can only mean Andy Pisciotti's house, a fellow Greece and Rome travel buddy. Andy was just wrapping up a fantasy football gathering and several guys stayed to "support" and "sing me happy birthday." I think they also had some fun with it because they made me sing to get my next clue.

The final video was from Janean Abbott (Hawaii) and from there, blindfolded, I got in a car (along with a life size trophy from last year's fantasy football winner) blasting Pocket Full of Sunshine. I thought that was kind of ironic because I couldn't see.

Eventually, Jenilee LeFors, Heather Zempel and Bernita (aka the spirit helper) took me on the roof for my favorite meal, breakfast. We talked about the highlights of 27, from which there are many... Disneyland in the rain with Heather, being called "the apprentice of goon," moving to Capitol Hill with Jenilee, writing The God Anthology curriculum. Taking a team to Greece: three hour dinners, standing on Mars Hill, being in Corinth, talking in accents. Leadership Retreat, disappearing (it was a magic trick!), starting a blog, getting my first speaking engagement, having Bernita over for the summer, when Ruth came to visit, that I got to meet Jeff's family, that he got to meet mine, road tripping with the Johnstons, Disney on Ice, Handel's Messiah, Memphis, Wicked. The list goes on. Each of those things represents friendships that were made, lessons that were learned, people investing investing in my life and allowing me into theirs. They each involved me learning about others and taking the risk to be known.

My biggest highlight of year 27 is being able to work and live and play with people who wear all those respective hats. Who know which hat to wear, and when. I realized a little bit more tonight just how good of friends they are, and it inspired me to become a better friend to them and to others.

What's funny is that my memory of all the little highlights required their help for me think through them. I needed to be prompted, reminded. We'll forget our blessings if we don't take the time to remember them. But we don't get to enjoy them nearly as much if there isn't somebody there to remember them with us.We need community. We're shaped for it. We can't live without it. Our friends truly determine the direction and quality of our life (I think Andy Stanley said that). I'm so thankful for the community that I get to be part of, down the street or across the country.

Thank you to everyone who made my pre-birthday memorable and fun. Even Andy, who made me sing the Dixie Chicks a-capella to a bunch of guys and his dog. :)

So, here we go. Another year of growth. Another year of adventure. And in the words of my spirit helper person... we are predestined!

God is Sovereign

When we think about the control panel of our life, one of the most basic and primary lessons a Christ-follower will learn is about who gets to be in charge. Let's be real: we are all a bit... control-freakish. We all have a tendency to believe that everything revolves around us; that we are the main character in our own show. Just look at how we read the Bible. Do we look for ourselves on the pages of scripture or do we look for God? When we read it looking for us, it is like going to a movie to see the extras. The story just isn't about them.

There are theological conundrums about who gets to be in charge. Does God control everything or do we have free will? Regardless of where we land on the spectrum, everything falls under and is subject to God's sovereignty. We can debate the extent and scope of God's sovereignty all day long (which, personally, I find to be great fun) but The God Anthology is about the nature of his sovereignty.

One of my favorite stories of God's sovereignty is the story of Leah in Genesis 29. We learn that to the same degree that God is big and powerful he is also intimate and personal and good. It is about God working his redemptive nature and plan among the mess of his people.

Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes for them." Leah's story is a Romans 8:28 story. Most of the time we read this and think the story is about Jacob and Rachel. But what Leah? She's Rachel's ugly older sister. Both sisters are married to Jacob, but Leah is the one who is overlooked and unchosen. Most little girls don't exactly grow up dreaming of that situation.

But the Lord notices little, forgotten Leah. Who, by the way, has given way to jealousy, insecurity, and comparison. She has a tendency to turn her "victim" status into feeling sorry for herself and spiting competition with her sister. (Paul would later say in Colossians 5:5-8 "Put to death what is earthly: sexual immorality, impurity, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry... you must put them away: anger, wrath, malice, slander...") Still, the Lord notices her and blesses her with children. We learn a little bit about the state of her heart and her relationship with the Lord through the naming of her kids:

• Reuben - "The Lord noticed my misery. Now my husband will love me."
• Simeon - "The Lord knows I am unloved."
• Levi - "My husband will surely feel affection for me!"
• Judah - "Now I will praise the Lord."

Sibling rivalry continues... Leah vying for Jacob and Rachel vying for children. Check out the rest of the family that is produced from the mess.

From Rachel's servant:

• Dan - "God has vindicated me!"
• Naphtali - "I have struggled with my sister, and I am winning!"

From Leah's servant:

• Gad - "How fortunate I am!"
• Asher - "What joy is mine!"

From Leah:

• Issachar - "God has rewarded me for giving my servant to my husband as a wife."
• Zebulun - "God has not given me a good reward."

From Rachel:

• Joseph - "May the Lord add yet another son to my family."
• Ben-oni - "Son of my sorrow." Jacob renamed him Benjamin - "son of my right hand."

We see God working through it all. The names Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah... aren't these familiar names? They are some of the most recognizable names in the Bible because they are the 12 tribes of Israel. God's sovereignty has a way of taking our lonely, afraid, inadequate, selfish, insecure, empty lives and not just redeeming us but making us part of his plan. It is out of the tribe of Judah that King David is born. And from King David's line, Christ. And Christ: he is the redeemer of the world. He is the one we call Good Shepherd that will leave his flock and come after you and me when we are lost like Leah. He is the one that existed before the world began and is sovereign over the events of our lives and the choices we make. Secretly and not so secretly, working all things together for good because we are called according to his purpose.

As Leah would grow to discover, when we submit ourselves to our true authority we find our true identity.

Prepare For Your Small Group

It's about a month before groups launch for fall semester. For the Discipleship Team at National Community Church this means that our inboxes are full of emails with one very common question: how do I prepare for my small group?

If you are a first time leader, this question should be taken seriously but does not need to be a source of worry or stress. Regardless of where you are in your leadership, here are some things to keep in mind that will be helpful to you as you prepare for your group:

1) Pray. This is the most important thing you can do to prepare for your group. Pray for the people that God will bring to your group. Pray that you would be a leader worth following. Pray for his blessing on your group. Pray that friendships would form and that people would grow in their relationship with Christ.

2) Content. Decide what to go over in your group. The ultimate goal of any small group is discipleship: growing more like Jesus in the context of community. The content can be whatever you'd like... from photography to a Romans book study. We have a free market system here :) Whatever you decide, just make sure that it is leveraged for a disciple-making opportunity. If you just can't figure out what the content should be, consider a sermon-based group. Those groups have discussion based around the Sunday message so folks really get a chance to digest it throughout the week. Each Sunday, discussion questions are emailed to the group leader.

3) Structure. Decide before the group begins how the flow of the evening will go. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• What is your start and end time?
  
• How is your group going to have prayer? (In groups? Pairs? All together? Be creative!)
• If you have a c0-leader, how are you planning to share leadership?
  
• How are you going to include the group in leadership responsibilities? (Snacks? Prayer list? Social planning?)
  
• How are you going to facilitate relationships within the group? (With a covenant? By disciplining somebody to lead next semester? Meet with people 1 on 1 outside the group? Serve together?)

4) Lead Yourself Well. One of the biggest predicaments group leaders can fall into is facilitating community for others and never entering into it themselves.

• Be intentional about building relationships.
• Get the most out of coaching. If you are a small group leader at NCC you have access to a coach. These coaches are there to help you grow in your leadership, in your relationship with God, and in community with other people. Even if you are a seasoned leader don't neglect this.
• Create rhythms for your spiritual life.
  

5) Be prepared for the first night. Have snacks. Get name tags. Unless you are the one-in-a-million who remembers names the first time you meet people, you will be thankful for name tags! Have a fun ice-breaker. My favorite ice-breaker is "two truths and a lie." It's silly, you learn things about people that wouldn't normally come up in regular conversation, and you have a tendency to remember the things they share.

6. Have an "overflow situation" plan. We are growing so much as a church, but we never want God to grow us beyond our capacity to care for people. It is becoming more and more common that group leaders have an unexpected amount of people show up during the first few weeks. Remember that these are small groups, not large groups! Get creative in how you handle this, but here are three things you can do:

• Familiarize yourself with other groups similar to yours to recommend.
• Split the group into two smaller groups for discussion time.
  
• Completely birth a new group if somebody within the larger group is qualified and capable to host and lead.

We are excited for this next semester! You play such a critical role in the lives of those in your group. To prepare yourself further, read the books of 1 & 2 Timothy and the book of Titus. Timothy and Titus were leaders in the early church that Paul discipled; these letters are to instruct them in their leadership. Our team prays for you regularly! If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at maegan.stout@theaterchurch.com.

God is Wrath

God is wrathful and merciful. Those two are inseparable.

The tension between God's mercy and God's wrath is one spot where the Gospel seems... offensive. God doesn't seem as nice or accommodating as he did before.

We all want to believe in a merciful God. Not a God who would bring punishment or wrath. What kind of God is that? But what about a god who didn't get angry at injustice? Do we really want a passive god? God forgives, he doesn't excuse. His wrath is just, and a god who never judges is not in the position to grant mercy.

The definition of sin is "missing the mark." We will never see the wonders of grace nor the depravity of sin until we see them both against the holy person of God. Only a judge, someone in the rightful and legal position - with authority, responsibility and liability to bring punishment - is in the true and appropriate place to grant mercy. The mercy of the cross is not that God's wrath was abolished, but that his wrath was satisfied with something other than the guilty. Christ instead of us.

A.W. Tozer said, "we must find refuge from God in God." We must bury ourselves in the cross. We must hide from the wrath of God in God himself. That is the only place we are safe. As Jesus overturned the money tables in the temple, we must overturn the tables in our hearts that harbor anything that would keep us from idolizing Christ.

1 John 3:16 says, "By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us..."

The mystery of the gospel is that God's wrath and mercy collide in the cross. And we find that he is not too cruel for being wrathful, but that we can't handle his mercy because he is so unimaginably good.